Frameworks for the management of cross-cultural communication and business performance in the globalizing economy: a professional service TNC case study in Indonesia

Globalization increases the integration and interdependence of international, national and local business and stakeholder communities across economic, political and cultural spheres. Communication technology and the international role for English suggest the integrating global communication reality is simplifying. Experience indicates integration produces complex heterogeneous dialogue and asymmetrical relationships with no shared interpretative systems. The global/national/local nexus presents management with universal and particular paradoxes mediated through diverse contextual micro communication practices and behaviours. This thesis derives from a professional service (environmental engineering) TNC request for help to address the business communication and performance concerns implicated in the production of professional bi-lingual English and Indonesian reports for clients. At the heart of this corporate concern lie the multicultural nature of interactions between the individuals, organizations and wider stakeholders involved in the Jakarta, Indonesian branch office operations. A developing nation adds further complexity. This thesis contends that these micro organizational concerns link to critical macro economic, political, and cultural societal concerns for the development of more responsive ethical and sustainable management and governance. This thesis argues for an elevated notion of the role of communication management to enable business to pursue more sustainable goals, improve business performance, and address the issue of risk. The thesis reviews multidisciplinary literature to develop a multifaceted theoretical framework that links macro management issues to this micro contextual concern.This framework guides a qualitative research strategy to apply an ethnographic-oriented case study-based methodology to map the diverse worldviews of a sample of the Indonesian professional staff, their local senior expatriate management, and Headquarters. The case study assesses the impact of diverse worldviews on the interactions, relationships and performances involved in a specific project involving the international investment sector, a national proponent developer, the national regulatory agency, local and indigenous stakeholder communities and the consulting TNC. The findings have implications for the management of international business, the higher education sector and civil society organizations

Confined compression of collagen hydrogels

Reconstituted collagen hydrogels are often used for in vitro studies of cell-matrix interaction and as scaffolds for tissue engineering. Understanding the mechanical and transport behaviours of collagen hydrogels is therefore extremely important, albeit difficult due to their very high water content (typically > 99.5%). In the present study the mechanical behaviour of collagen hydrogels in confined compression was investigated using biphasic theory (J. Biomech. Eng. 102 (1980) 73), to ascertain whether the technique is sufficiently sensitive to determine differences in the characteristics of hydrogels of between 0.2% and 0.4% collagen. Peak stress, equilibrium stress, aggregate modulus and hydraulic permeability of the hydrogels exhibited sensitivity to collagen content, demonstrating that the technique is clearly able to discriminate between hydrogels with small differences in collagen content and may also be sensitive to factors that affect matrix remodelling. The results also offer additional insight into the deformation-dependent permeability of collagen hydrogels. This study suggests that confined compression, together with biphasic theory, is a suitable technique for assessing the mechanical properties of collagen hydrogels

The Emerging Role of PARP Inhibitors in the Treatment of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is an important novel target in cancer therapy. This enzyme is essential in the repair of single-stranded breaks in DNA via the base excision repair pathway. Drugs which inhibit PARP are emerging as a promising new class of anticancer agents particularly effective against tumors which have lost homologous recombination (HR) through loss of functional BRCA1 and BRCA2. PARP inhibitors potentially represent a major breakthrough for patients with hereditary BRCA-associated cancers. Furthermore their role in sporadic epithelial ovarian cancer is emerging with identification of additional subpopulations of women who may benefit a priority. This paper will summarize the mechanism of action of PARP inhibition and its role in the treatment of BRCA1- and 2-associated cancers. We will then expand on the broader relevance and future directions for PARP inhibition in the clinical setting

Employment and the Nature of Work: The Impact on Mobility and Road Transport Needs

The objective of this paper is to establish an appreciation of the changing nature of labour force participation and work practices as they impact on mobility and road transport needs. As more workers have shorter and longer hours than the typical 38 hour week, and as job opportunities increasingly move to the suburbs, the development of a road infrastructure strategy must take the changing spatial and temporal nature of work activity into account

In what sense ‘distinctive’? The search for distinction amongst cross-border student migrants in the UK

This paper offers a geographical analysis of the concept of ‘distinction’ in relation to student mobility within the UK. The analysis in this paper is based primarily on interviews with Scottish students who have chosen to study in England, and English students who have done likewise in Scotland. The paper problematises the concept of ‘distinction’ in the stratified higher education system of the UK. The paper’s originality lies in showing how global forces affect these intra-state student flows and how ‘distinction’ as a driver of mobility is signified. The research offers a starting point in understanding the glocalisation of student mobility.PostprintPeer reviewe

The romantic concept of the poet-prophet and its culmination in Walt Whitman

One of the outstanding characteristics of the Romantic period was the widespread urge to find an acceptable substitute for the religious faith of earlier centuries. The Age of Enlightenment had given popular acceptance to the theory that there was no personal God who interested Himself in the affairs of men. The result was an overpowering feeling of helplessness and desolation, to which has been given the name "the Romantic void." People turned for an alternate spiritual fulfillment to nationalism, to Utopian schemes, and finally to art. A corresponding elevation of the artist placed him in a position similar to that once filled by religious functionaries such as priests and prophets. Poets, in particular, were considered to have finer sensibilities than average men, sensibilities which enabled them to see intuitively the transcendental ideal behind Nature's material forms. A related trend of wide scope was important to the concept. As people, Influenced by nationalism, began to examine their national origins, a desire grew for the simple life and primitive vigor of earlier ages. The figure of the ancient bard, who was not only poet but often priest as well, became a shaping influence of vast proportions on the developing concept of the poet-prophet

Pastoral influences on Robert Greene's social views in his romances and comedies

Robert Greene, as a professional author and dramatist, was keenly attuned to audience expectations and to the literary trends of his day. One of the most notable of those trends in the 1580's was pastoral, which in England was not so much a genre but an idea which could be incorporated into virtually any other literary form. Furthermore, it was an idea which had intrinsic social Implications in that its main thrust usually involved the retreat of an aristocrat to the world of humble folk, especially shepherds. While there the nobles would associate with the shepherds, engaging in the same pastoral pursuits, and accepting a surprisingly equal social exchange. Most authors glibly accepted this as a pretty convention, often even giving it an allegorical thrust. Greene, however, seems to have been attracted to pastoral primarily because of this social leveling, because he used pastoral concepts and, later, forms, as a means of enabling nobles and commoners to mingle freely, and, in so doing, to demonstrate the nature of true nobility. This true, or innate, nobility he saw as independent of social class, as based only upon the "gifts of Nature"— beauty, virtue, and, most importantly, wit

An optimised small-scale sample preparation workflow for historical dye analysis using UHPLC-PDA applied to Scottish and English Renaissance embroidery

A sample preparation workflow for historical dye analysis based on 96 well plates and filtration by centrifugation was developed. It requires less sample and the introduced error is decreased, making it useful for culturally important objects. A sample preparation workflow for historical dye analysis requiring less sample has been developed. Samples as small as 0.01 ± 0.005 mg have been successfully analysed and high percentage recoveries (>85%), more automation and shorter preparation time have been achieved using filtration by centrifugation and only one manual transfer. The optimised workflow based on 96 well plates together with the shorter UHPLC method developed makes dye analysis data collection faster from unprocessed sample to result, facilitating the creation of larger datasets and application of chemometric approaches. The method was evaluated on 85 samples from 12 dye sources (RSD < 5.1%, = 5) as well as 22 samples from a 17 century embroidered stomacher from the National Museums Scotland (NMS) collection